Let me start the review by saying that this is the first ever movie I have watched of SRK in a theater! I am not his fan but I did love his Om Shanti Om and Main Hoon Na, in that order. Incidentally both were directed by Farah Khan.
You can hardly blame me. Inspite of only watching movies after a good word of mouth talk, I did end up watching an ek number ka faltu movie like Love Story 2050! (I even heard fellow audience saying out loud, ‘kya bakwas hai‘ in between the dialogues of the hero too!) If you ever have time to kill, try watching Love Story 2050 and you will know how bad some movies can be. It is forever stuck in my personal list of worst movies ever! I pity the hero, Harman Baweja. It was his debut movie and it buried his movie career alive!
Anyway, let us get back to Jawan.
Movie: Jawan
Director: Atlee
Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Vijay Sethupathi, Nayanathara, Priya Mani, Sanya Malhotra
Released On: September 2023
Watched on: First day, evening show.
Movie starts with a bloody Shah Rukh, (whom we don’t see fully, because he is bandaged fully, like The Mummy), on the verge of death. Thankfully he has enough loyalty in his blood to wake him up from his coma, to help his saviours. The next scene is the powerful hero elevation sequence. I love the scene, when Shah Rukh’s shadow overlaps the tribal God’s statue, the hero has arrived!
The hero elevation sequences are a rare feat in Bollywood, whereas, almost every South Indian movie has high voltage scenes, where heroism is celebrated and the hero is introduced, but only some attract us and this one is one of those. (Mr.Bee was busy howling at the top of his lungs, happy for the hero and his heroism.)
Twenty years pass by, we find a taklu Shah Rukh take over the system, by turning into a Robinhood for the farmers. He is also set on cleaning the Government as a whole. (South movies are always so hopeful, that someday, things are going to change. Sadly, it takes time, not just 5 hours, like they show in the movie.) Wait! Did I say South movie? Ya, this one looks and feels like a South Indian movie, except for the dialogues and the hero, that is!
Later we get to know that the taklu Shah Rukh infact has a head full of dyed hair and is also a Jailer! (I recently watched the Rajni starrer Jailer too. So what is this new fixation about Jailers? Beats me!) His gang of 6 girls are also from his jail. By the way, the music by Anirudh Ravichander for Jawan, also reminded me of Rajnikanth’s Jailer, once again!
We also meet Nayanathara, playing an IPS Narmada Rai, who is a single mother of a cutie pie, ends up marrying none other than the masked Jailer cum Robinhood Shah Rukh! *claps*
First half ends with a bang! (I loved the twist. It is very logical, but I was so immersed in the movie till then, I forgot the major clue!) I am not giving away much details because I want you to enjoy the turn of events in the movie.
Second half has a cameo appearance by Deepika Padukone, who has a small but effective role, tugging at our heart strings, with a mother sentiment. (Mother sentiment works like no other, even Hollywood is following suit, with ‘The Wild Robot’.) Deepika gets a meaty role and steals the spotlight, away from Nayanatara, who gets a one dimensional role.
Vijay Sethupathi needs no introduction and he packs a powerful punch with his character. I loved Shah Rukh in the role of Vikram Rathore, it was a treat! Both Vijay Sethupathi and Shah Rukh have much to solve among themselves, settling the scores, that is.
Heroism is real, Vikram Rathore proves it for us (most noise made by the audience during the movie was in his scenes). He also shows us what muscle memory is! Paisa Vasool kind of movie. Even the kids enjoyed it till the very end.
P.S:
1. I had written this post long ago and it had been gathering dust in the draft folder. So I decided to post it, better late than never.
2. As you must have guessed, I will come back in a couple of days with the review of ‘The Wild Robot’.
Bubyee friends, time to draw the cartoons for the next post. Cheerio!
